WM. PRESTON LANE, JR., GOVERNOR. 591

Said election shall be conducted as nearly as practicable
as elections for county officers under the Code of Public Gen-
eral Laws of this State and upon closing the polls the said
Committee shall canvass the votes and announce publicly the
result thereof. Each ward or ward section shall stand upon
the election returns of its own ward or ward section as to
incorporation or charter adoption. (The failure of any ward
or ward section to vote "in favor of Charter Adoption" shall
not prevent any other ward or ward section from being incor-
porated, except as hereinafter stated.) In the event that the
majority of the votes cast in any single ward or ward section
are for adoption of this charter, this Act shall immediately
become effective in the ward or ward section so voting, except
that in the event that a majority of the votes cast in the
First Ward are against adoption of this Charter, then this
Act shall be null and void.

The Committee shall certify the results of this referendum
election to the Secretary of State of Maryland.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That for the purpose
of carrying out the first election of Mayor, Ward Councilmen,
and Treasurer after the adoption of the charter set out herein,
the aforesaid committees named in Section 2 immediately
preceding are hereby appointed and designated as supervi-
sors and judges for said election for the areas therein men-
tioned and are hereby directed to take the necessary steps
for said election in accordance with the provisions of the
charter aforesaid, subject to the right of substitution ex-
pressed in said Section 2; provided further, that said super-
visors and judges may, in their discretion, postpone, not
exceeding one month, the election, registration, notice of
registration, time for filing by candidates, report of election
returns and issuance of election certificate, from the time
set out in the sections of the charter hereby enacted dealing
with elections; and provided further, that they may use for
the first election of town officials the registration lists com-
piled for the adoption of the aforesaid charter. The terms
of the officials elected under this section shall be construed
to commence on that Friday in May, 1947, on which they
would have commenced if the election had been held in May,
1947.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That this Act is hereby
declared to be an emergency law and necessary for the imme-
diate preservation of the public health and safety, and being
passed upon a yea and nay vote, supported by three-fifths
of all of the members of the two Houses of the General